By Web News Desk
Tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine following a deadly strike on Belgorod, with Russia’s defense ministry accusing Ukraine’s military of deploying cluster bombs in the attack. The ministry vowed retaliation, condemning the strike as a “crime that will not go unpunished.”
At least 18 people, including two children, lost their lives in the attack on Belgorod, situated just 30 kilometers north of Russia’s border with Ukraine. Over 100 individuals sustained injuries, according to Russian authorities cited by the New York Times.
The assault triggered multiple explosions across Ukrainian cities on Saturday evening, from Kharkiv and Sumy near the Russian border to Kherson in the south, prompting widespread air raid alerts.
Russia Vows a Deadly Strike in Revenge for Belgorod Bombing
In response, Russia’s foreign ministry called for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting on Saturday to address the attack, as reported by Tass.
Russia’s defense ministry alleged that Ukraine’s armed forces fired Olkha missiles equipped with cluster-munition warheads and Czech-made Vampire rockets, intercepted by Russian air defense units. Debris from these intercepted projectiles reportedly struck Belgorod.
Simultaneously, shelling in Belgorod’s center claimed 14 lives and injured 45 others, as confirmed by emergency services. Russian officials attributed the attack to Kyiv, occurring just a day after an extensive 18-hour Russian aerial barrage in Ukraine that resulted in the deaths of at least 39 civilians.
Images circulated on social media depicted chaos in Belgorod, with cars ablaze, damaged structures, and billowing smoke amid blaring air raid sirens. One strike reportedly hit close to a public ice rink in the city center.
Earlier on the same day, Moscow reported downing 32 Ukrainian drones over regions like Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk. Cross-border shelling also claimed two lives in Russia—a man died and four others were injured in a missile strike on a private home in the Belgorod region, while a 9-year-old was killed in a separate incident in the Bryansk region.
Since May, cities in western Russia have faced recurrent drone attacks. While Ukrainian officials have never acknowledged responsibility for strikes on Russian territory, larger aerial assaults on Russia have historically followed heavy attacks on Ukrainian cities.
